The Teaching Philosophy/Teaching Statement

The teaching philosophy (or teaching statement) is becoming a more common part of academic life for both faculty and graduate students. Graduate students report that colleges and universities often request statements from applicants for faculty positions. Faculty at an increasing number of institutions must develop a teaching statement as they approach tenure and promotion. Instructors at all levels find that writing their statement helps them develop as teachers, since it entails making their implicit views on teaching and student learning explicit and comparing those views to actual teaching practice.

This CRLT Occasional Paper is designed to help experienced graduate students write a statement of teaching philosophy. The authors offer a rubric for writing an effective statement based on research into the use of teaching statements by academic search committees.

A rubric for evaluating teaching philosophy statements created by CRLT. The design of the rubric was informed by our experience with hundreds of teaching philosophies, as well as surveys of search committees on what they considered successful and unsuccessful components of job applicants’ teaching philosophies.

The site has a carefully designed menu of topics (such as What is a philosophy of teaching statement? and Major components of a philosophy of teaching statement) that are easy to navigate and give an overview of the teaching statement. The site also contains examples, a list of web links, and a bibliography.

The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness outlines the parts of a Teaching Portfolio. This site includes a section dedicated to writing a statement of teaching philosophy, and several sample philosophy of teaching statements from a variety of disciplines.

Tutorial on writing a teaching philosophy with resources to help you each step of the way, including reflective prompts, a teaching philosophy template, and three different rubrics for evaluating your statement.

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CRLT is dedicated to the support and advancement of evidence-based learning and teaching practices and the professional development of all members of the campus teaching community. CRLT partners with faculty, graduate students, postdocs, and administrators to develop and sustain a University culture that values and rewards teaching, respects and supports individual differences among learners, and creates learning environments in which diverse students and instructors can excel.